I was recently given a load of crap from the Immigration officer at Don Muang for "visiting Thailand too often", even though I'd been out of the country for close to a month & had just 3 tourist entry stamps (with no extensions) for the 6 months prior. So with this new pinhead "frequent tourist" personna-non-gratta ball-busting crap instilled, I'm filing for a Thai marriage or Retirement visa. I understand that for a Marriage visa the first step is getting a one year Non-O visa from anywhere outside the country. I'm currently in Cambodia, so obviously the most convenient place to do this is in Phnom Penh. I've heard a few reports about the nonaccommodating service at the Thai consulate in Phnom Penh so would like some feedback from anyone in the know about the validity of this. And if not in Phnom Penh, then where else in the reasonably accessible vicinity can I get either of these visas? Since I have a choice applying for either Marriage or Retirement, what are their pros and cons?

Edited October 9, 201411 yr by yeeowww

PROS AND CONS

Marriage extension 400k in the bank and retirement extension 800k in the bank, seasoned for 3 months

Loads of paperwork required for marriage ext and virtually no paperwork for retirement

Go to the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh , try to get a multiple Entry Non immigrant O Visa, hope you have all your documents with you

It is true that you can only extend a Non-O visa for either retirement or marriage. But it doesn't have to be a 1 year multiple entry visa. All that is required is a single entry 90 day visa. You can apply for that at an Embassy/Consulate abroad. It takes 4 days in PP unless you use n agent. You can get it in Savannakhet, Laos, in 1 day with no agent. However you can enter Thailand on either a tourist visa or visa exempt entry and convert that to a Non-O at immigration and then extend that for 1 year.

The financial requirements for a conversion to a marriage extension are, either 400k in a Thai bank in your name only seasoned for two months or proof of 40k income/month -letter from your Embassy.

For a retirement extension, either 800k in Thai bank in your name only seasoned for 2 months on the first application, three months thereafter, or prof of at least 65k/month (letter from Embassy) or a combination of both totalling 800k.

You can only get a single entry non-o in PP. You will need your marriage certificate (plus a copy), copies of you wife's house book and ID card. Then you can apply for an extension of stay at immigration if you can meet the financial requirements.

You can get a multiple entry non-o visa based upon marriage in Savannakhet Laos with no financial proof. This visa would give you unlimited 90 day entries for a year.

If you don't get a non-o a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry is possible. To do it based upon qualifying for an extension of stay based upon marriage it can only be done in Bangkok. For retirement it can be done at several immigration offices.